2012 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

The Arlaud brothers did not start harvesting in 2012 until September 25 and Cyprien Arlaud maintained that the rain that fell on the 21st and 22nd was constructive for quality as it was the first real precipitation since early August (some vines had been affected by hydric stress at the end of that month)."A couple of cuvees lost a bit of alcohol," he told me, "but the rain brought more perfume to the grapes."In any event, most potential alcohol levels were in the very healthy 12.5% to 13% range (only a couple of wines were chaptalized), and Arlaud said that there was a narrower range of ripeness than in 2011.Yields were in the low 30 to 35 hectoliters-per-hectare range, "similar to 2010, as the flowering in 2012 was very tough for the old vines."He vinifies with about 30% whole clusters "but never more, as we only do this with our old vines and only about a third of our vines are very old--except for the Sentiers, the Charmes-Chambertin and the Clos Saint-Denis." Interestingly, Arlaud maintained that the inclusion of some whole clusters has less of a pH-raising effect now than it used to have, a phenomenon that he attributes to organic farming and possibly to lower levels of potassium in the soil nowadays.With two exceptions, the 2012s here were racked in July but were still in barrel.